Pansies

This looks great. well done to all your exhibitorsand committee. It is hard to put your foot down and tell people their entry is NAS (not according to schedule) but in fairness to the other exhibitors it has to be done. We had a rule which said exhibitors could be disqualified from the show and barred for life if a judge thought it was a deliberate NAS. One year one old gentleman brought round loads of exhibits with the help of a neighbour. To be ready on time the chap picked a lot of flowers the night before the show and stuck them in vases. Someone helped him set out his exhibits. When the judge was judging the carnations he found a rubber band round the stems and was all for disqualifying him. I was called in as Show Secretary to give my opinion. I could identify all the exhibitors and was able to vouch for the man who frequently walked off with the cup for best onions in the show as he did that year. Checking his exhibitor entry form I spotted he had not entered Carnations. Another year my daughter was acting as a steward for the first time and was allocated to help the flower judge. When a critisism was made of one of my exhibits she said "Oh thats my mother" I was again asked what should happen. As I was now unmasked all my flower exhibits were left on the table but not judged. It should never be about the winning but about taking part and sharing knowledge. In our first shows we had 3 points for first, 2 for 2nd and 1 for third. When exhibitors complained bitterly that some exhibitors were entering any old rubbish in classes which often had no other exhibits and walking off with prizes and cups they clearly had not earned we had to introduce marks out of 20. That way quality and quantity got their just desserts. We had a policy of not discouraging exhibitors who were entering poor quality items as we needed to allow them to improve. The judges were very supportive of our decision. It was great fun and very hard work.